By Peter Hecht | Sacramento Bee

Tom McClintock declared himself the winner over Charlie Brown Monday in a tightly contested race in Northern California's 4th Congressional District.

But as the veteran lawmaker and conservative lion asserted he has defeated Brown and turned back a "liberal wave that swept over America and lapped at the edge of this district," Brown refused to concede until "every voice is heard."

McClintock told his supporters in victory speech in Roseville that eight of nine counties in the district have finished counting ballots and that it is impossible for Brown to overcome a more than 1,500 vote deficit.

McClintock, who led Brown by 50.3 percent to 49.7 percent in traditionally stoutly Republican district, said: "the people of the 4th Congressional District...made the decision to stand by our traditional American principles of individual freedom and limited government."

"The votes have been counted," McClintock added: "...The count is over. The election is over."

In a statement, Brown said that he remained "committed to ensuring a fair accurate count where every vote is heard." He said he was concerned about the potential of "under votes" and disqualified provisional and absentee ballots.

County officials are required to complete their vote counts Tuesday and submit official results to Secretary of State Debra Bowen by Dec. 9. Bowen has until Dec. 13 to certify the election results.

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